A Perfect Day For Bananafish Essay

J.D Salinger is a critically acclaimed author that is equally well known for his eye catching, yet slim, body of work as he is for his reclusive and oftentimes mysterious personal life. Salinger was brought up in an average family, and seemed to be set to live an average life. However in 1942, Salinger was `drafted into WWII, and he served until 1944. The war was not kind to anyone, and especially not to the sensitive Salinger. He ended up suffering a mental breakdown, and recovered in a mental hospital for 6 months. When he returned, Salinger immediately slipped into his writing career, quickly becoming well known for his published works, using his experiences in the war to breathe life and ingenuity into his work.
The first story in Salinger’s 9 Short Stories is “A Perfect Day For Bananafish”, in which the protagonist is a young, mentally damaged war veteran on vacation with his wife. It seems to be made to be linked to the last story in Salinger’s anthology, “Teddy”, which features a spiritually enlightened 10 year old boy prodigy. It seems that Salinger’s greatest skill lies in his main purpose of his literature, which is to manipulate the audience into feeling empathy for his characters, therefore feeling
Seymour and Teddy are both outcasts that share their lives with people that they are emotionally disconnected from. They are unable to assimilate into the world around them and therefore their stories come to a similar end.Seymour appears to be mild mannered though it is obvious he is disturbed mentally. When Muriel’s mother describes a conversation had with Seymour’s doctors, she says “ He definitely told your father there’s a chance - a very great chance, he said, that Seymour may completely lose control of himself.” He lives in isolation from his wife and from others in his social circle. Even doctors that are treating him cannot understand or help him